so, if you train takedowns, mounts, etc., when you get into a real fight, more than likely you will 'shoot'.

i am sure many will say that they would not do this, and would strike instead. that is not my point. this is.

saying you take him down, there is very simple tactic on the street that is used to reverse a losing position...biting your ear off.

i personally know of three people who have had their ears bitten off, well pieces of them, at least. one was real bad, half his ear was taken off, and later reattached. but trust me, it aint the same.

this is a specific danger with long lasting consequences.

my question is do you train to deal with that potential?

in poekulan, we are taught as well to avoid our opponent's mouth, as it is considered a weapon. we actually do 'bite checks'with some movements. and some poekulan people also grow their nails out and use them as makeshift claws( watch out for your eyes). these two weapons can be a hazard, even if you win you could be scarred or damaged for life. once i even heard about a guy who got his nose bitten off, now that is nasty. dont know if its true, but i am sure it has been done more than once before.

You may be KOed by the time you reach the floor. If not they'd be working for a position/punching you...and you'd have your motuh wide open...

But there's a possibility that you may be able to bite if you're on TOP (maybe the bottom), which is why grapplers would be "better" at biting than the average MAist - they'd be incontrol for the most part.

Biting somebody when you're mounting them isn't necessarily that difficult I shouldn't think.

http://www.subfighter.net/downloads/highlights/misc/slam-1.wmv

Do you think if that was no rules he would've been able to bite him? &lt;img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>

PizDoff when drunk: "I'm actually MOST pissed that my target for the evening got drink...then I gave her my Bullshido Canada hoodie like a gentleman because she was outside with not much on...did I mention she barfed twice when I got our jackets...steaming barf is kinda fascinating..." - PizDoff.

"And what does that [ear biting] achieve other than freaking the other guy out?"

Not that I'm advocating ear biting, but I think kuntao touches on a valid point here. I don't think you should look at it as "what does your opponent gain". Assume your opponent is trying to inflict a hell of a lot of damage on you without a set plan. The ears are right there and most people (myself included) don't really guard them unless there's a strike coming, leaving them open to twisting, biting, etc. If you're tough enough you can disregard the pain long enough to destroy your opponent. You're also left with a mangled ear.

I'm not saying this is a likely scenario. Unlike kuntao, I don't know of a single time it's happened, but I remember a kickboxer/bouncer recommending ear biting to me years ago so it's not like nobody's ever thought of it. I do think that getting out of a fight with the least damage to yourself possible, as opposed to just winning, should be a training goal.